I can't believe it has been 5 days since the songs have been posted, and there are no reviews yet! Is everyone too sleepy from eating turkey on Thursday?

James MoateJ: The beat sounds a little too repetitive to me, I would try switching it up a little in the chorus. Changeups like the gang vocals and the descending synth at 0:30 are very welcome. I’m not against this style of music, but something about this doesn’t feel authentic. I think it might be that the vocal filter. Songs of this genre really benefit from a strong bass line, which feels like it is lacking here.

K: I think it would really add to the song if there were parts that were a little more melodic. It feels a bit flat dynamically. Having some build-ups or drops could make it more interesting to listen to.

James OwensJ: This is pleasant. Really catchy melody. Almost too catchy. The jingle bells really make it feel Christmas-y. I like the changes in the chords and melody in the middle section, although the synth pad feels a little too 80s for my own taste. I like the juxtaposition between the banal holiday melody and the more cynical lyrics. I like the line “All the lines are endless. Everyone seems friendless” a lot.

K: I had this stuck in my head all day. You did a good job capturing the vibe of last minute Christmas shopping. The lyrics were entertaining, though some of the rhymes felt a little too elementary, like “The reason is pleasin.”

shirtsJ: This rocked. I really like what the drums were doing throughout the song. The doubled vocals worked. The “NOW!” was a great vocal performance. Here’s my problem with it: Too long. I feel like I could have accomplished so many things in the time it took to listen to this.

K: The chorus is reminiscent of System of a Down, which is great. I think it would be awesome if you made the song longer. Give us time to fall in love with it; get to know it… Maybe with enough time, we will build up the courage to ask it out.

SoundswordJ: I really like the opening guitar riff. And real drums! Awesome build-up at 1:30. And tempo change at 2:00! I love that kind of stuff. This feels like an act that would get some drunk people really stoked at a dive bar at 2am. Which is a good thing. Here’s the thing: it’s hard to see the thematic connection to “I Don’t Like Crowds” when there are no lyrics.

K: The track was good, but it didn’t really keep my attention. The fact that I have ADHD and the song didn’t have any lyrics probably didn’t help.

StarfingerJ: Grooving bass line. You had me on board with the weird noises and stuff for this crazy carnival ride. But when the vocals came in, they definitely felt jarring. I think this could be a really effective experimental pop song (a la Of Montreal) if you just dialled down the insanity knob just a few notches and had a more sincere sounding vocal performance. The music complements the lyrics nicely, as the music makes me feel claustrophobic during the “You’re gonna have to give me a little more room” part.

K: I like the experimental sound and layers. I have never dabbled in drugs, but I’m not sure if I need to after this.

Step AsideJ: Great acoustic guitar chops. Whoa! I like the harmonies on the chorus a lot! You have a good voice. The claps that came in were great, and they really should have stayed in longer. I’m going to declare this my favourite song in the fight!

K: The backup vocals were a great addition and really filled out the song. Great work.

Vom VortonJ: This sounds like a really dope NES soundtrack. I actually could listen to that intro music through at least a dozen levels. The lyrics in this song are strong. “Can you feel the waves of discomfort that I radiate?” is a great line. The tone of your singing voice is great for this song, but it comes out a little bit off-key. It looks like you use Reaper for recording. Have you tried using ReaTune for some pitch correction? I am someone who really has trouble with keeping my own voice in tune, and I found that using pitch-correction did wonders.

K: I am a sucker for songs with an 80s feel. The vocal style is very faithful to the genre. This is a song I would listen to.

WreckdomJ: At first I was not onboard with this song at all (not a big fan of the sing-talking), but that saxophone is just so sexy! Totally redeems it. The organ is pretty groovy.

K: The saxophone sells this song for me. Great sax melody. The song is really fun and I love the passion and expression in the vocals. You did a great job playing with different instrumentation and beatboxing.

zczeroJ: I might just be missing it, but I’m not sure I understand what is happening in the lyrics with the porridge, or how that connects to crowds. The timing feels off between the synth and the vocals. Are you recording with a metronome? If not, that could definitely help.

K: I get the sense that the focus of this song is on the lyrics. Unfortunately, I feel like the words are drowned out by the keyboard. I’d be interested in hearing what it would sound like with a lower volume on the keyboard and more intensity in the vocal performance.

JeffHenderson wrote:Vom VortonJ: This sounds like a really dope NES soundtrack. I actually could listen to that intro music through at least a dozen levels. The lyrics in this song are strong. “Can you feel the waves of discomfort that I radiate?” is a great line. The tone of your singing voice is great for this song, but it comes out a little bit off-key. It looks like you use Reaper for recording. Have you tried using ReaTune for some pitch correction? I am someone who really has trouble with keeping my own voice in tune, and I found that using pitch-correction did wonders.

Thanks for the kind words! I have mixed feelings about pitch correction, but I'll bear it in mind. I've actually switched to Ableton Live for recording this month, but I did just pick up the base-level version of Melodyne in a Black Friday sale - I think my problem is really that I tend to attempt vocals (especially backing vocals) without figuring out what melody I'm going to sing beforehand. I should definitely spend more time on that!

James Moate - there’s a lot to like about this, it’s mostly well produced and atmospheric, but I just can’t get on board with the vocal FX, it just sounds weird to me to use autotune (?) for this kind of vocal where the rhythm is more important than the melody anyway. I know it’s a thing a lot of people are doing though so I’m probably outing myself here as having reached the precise age where I can no longer comprehend new musical ideas! sorry!

James Owens - extremely Christmassy, I like the dreamy bells and keyboards.

Jeff Travis Henderson - I liked this one very much. The various different sections all work well, and you’ve done a great job of getting the song to flow between them. Some really lovely vocal melodies in there too.

Shrts - it is short, and it rocks.

Soundsword - an enjoyable listen with some good riffs but it does feel kinda like an unfinished live jam, and while I’m not against instrumental songs on here, I can’t hear anything in this one that particularly relates to the title, and the way the recording breaks up occasionally during the louder sections is really offputting.

Starfinger - this is wild! I love the glitchy electronic sound, and the lyrics are interesting. The synth that kicks in after a couple of minutes is FILTHY.

Step Aside - this is catchy and anthemic, and I love the handclaps! I find the way it shifts to a wider stereo mix (?) at the first chorus quite abrupt and strange (I probably wouldn’t notice if I wasn’t listening on headphones). Minor complaint though, I enjoyed this a lot.

WreckdoM - really fun, I like the dual vocals, and the instrumentation is unusual and works really well.

zczero - again this feels like a slight evolution of “the zczero sound”, allowing me to hear you singing about porridge, which I’m oddly intrigued by. I kinda like the atmosphere of this one.

Vom Vorton - this is me, more electronic experiments for the synthpop album I’m working on this month, with bonus Casio VL-Tone! I think this turned out well, it’s definitely the most “chiptuney” track I’ve made this month, although listening back I think I might have overcompressed it a bit.